The 33-mile long, 13-mile wide Isle of Man in the Irish Sea is part of the British Isles but not the United Kingdom.
It’s a Crown Dependency and has its own parliament, Tynwald, which is the oldest continuous parliament in Europe.
But you’ll likely best know the island thanks to the world-famous TT motorbike race and, because it’s run on public roads, that iconic 37.73-mile clockwise mountain route that starts and finishes at the TT Grandstand on the A2 Glencrutchery Road, in Douglas, is one you can follow yourself in your classic.
But probably not at the astonishing 135.452mph average speed of Peter Hickman when he set a new outright lap record of 16 mins 42.778 secs in 2018.
A bronze tribute by sculptor Amanda Burton to ‘king of the mountain’ Joey Dunlop who died in 2000
Once free of the more urban sections that produce some of the race’s most heart-in-your-mouth moments, the route turns right at Ballacraine on to the A3 for its first really scenic break into the countryside, and after Ramsay joins the spectacular A18 Snaefell mountain road that winds you back to Douglas.
